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Hofstra's hosting of debate a costly affair

BY KARLA SCHUSTER | karla.schuster@newsday.com

8:38 PM EDT, October 14, 2008

The way Peter Kalikow recalls it, the phone call from Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz last November went like this:

"He tells me: there's good news and there's bad news," Kalikow said. "The good news is that we got the debate. The bad news is that now we need about $2 million to put it on."

Hofstra's share of the cost of hosting tomorrow's debate turned out to be more like $3.5 million, doled out by three longtime boosters and alumni with deep pockets and deep ties to the university: Kalikow, a real estate developer; John D. Miller, a philanthropist; and David S. Mack, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Corporate sponsors of the Commission on Presidential Debates will help pay for much of tonight's showdown - a relationship that has drawn sharp rebukes from good government groups. But local donors played a critical early role, providing an infusion of cash and confidence that can often make the difference in whether an institution gets a debate, say current and former debate hosts.

Rabinowitz said he had buy-in from the three local sponsors before he applied for the debate.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't have done it if we had to take a chance using student tuition dollars, but I didn't want that insecurity," Rabinowitz said. "I wanted to be able to go to the commission and say that we already had the money commitments."

At Arizona State University in Tempe, which hosted a presidential debate in 2004, officials decided against applying again this year, concerned they could not drum up the local dollars necessary to pull off their end of the event. In 2004, it cost ASU $1.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions, said Virgil Renzulli, ASU's vice president of public affairs.

"We just thought it would be a pretty big lift raising that kind of money a second time around," he said. "You have to have your money lined up ahead of time and looking at where we thought the economy was going this time around . . ."

The money ponied up by the local sponsors, along with in-kind contributions from local companies (including Newsday) helped underwrite Hofstra's "Educate '08" lecture and discussion series leading up to tonight's debate. In addition, the commission lists eight sponsors for the debates - three presidential and one vice-presidential. They include JetBlue and Anheuser-Busch, which hosts a hospitality tent for the media.

Kalikow said he'd rather see private individuals and foundations pay for political debates. "There are plenty of rich people who want to do stuff like this," he said.

Hofstra's three major sponsors, all trustees (Miller is board chairman), have given to the university before. Mack's name is on the arena where the debate will be held and Kalikow in 2006 established the school's Center for the Study of the American Presidency, which bears his name. The center's work was among the reasons cited by the commission in awarding the debate to Hofstra.

"I never thought we would get it," Kalikow said. "What I think is really cool is that some of the students - they'll be reporters or work in Congress or be executives in government and they'll be able to say they saw Barack Obama and John McCain in a debate. It gives them exposure and it gives the school exposure."